The void ore mines were a truly uncomfortable place for a cultivator, but over time Velvet got used to them. As for the beasts she was supposed to hunt, it was important they were found away from anyone working. Because without proper use of energy, beasts were much stronger than humans. Even if the miners focused more on their bodies than many others, unless they reached Essence Collection or Life Transformation purely on the merits of their body they would be at risk against many of the beasts.

But in areas where energy was more functional, the beasts weren’t much stronger. They were adapted to living in and around void ore, which meant most of the upper energy they came in contact with went directly to strengthening their bodies. In short, they were still below the Integration level in ‘normal’ areas.

For Velvet, that meant she had a straightforward task of finding beasts and stringing them along to somewhere she could fight them optimally. She couldn’t afford to be careless around high concentrations of void ore, but she wasn’t in the business of relaxing anyway. Not around so many unknown threats.

As far as Velvet could tell, Runa and the Spirit Slicing Sect had bought her deception about her origins, but that might not last forever. If she could prove to be valuable they might care as much, but either way performing the tasks assigned to her was the best option for her infiltration.

Velvet crept along, footfalls as silent as the flight of owls. Sound was the biggest enemy here, because aside from the occasional fungus there wasn’t much in the way of natural light. Her upper energy could give her away as well, but that was something Velvet was used to.

A high pitched squeak echoed through the cavern as a bat fluttered along. It was listening for the ripples of her presence, but she was more than capable of producing an effect that hid her from echolocation. It was actually easier than training Chidi to deal with sight, a sense he had no basis for. Even if Velvet herself didn’t possess echolocation, the sound simply needed to flow through her without restriction rather than off of her. Her method wasn’t quite perfect- otherwise she wouldn’t have heard it at all- but it was sufficient for a beast that expected clear results.

One hand grasped the cold stone as her feet maneuvered onto small irregularities. The other held a dagger ready for use. The closer she could get without making outward use of her energy, the more successful her ambush would be. The bat dangled from a stalactite in the middle of the chamber, but such a position was not unassailable if one could climb along the ceiling. It was a difficult process, but with only a tiny bit of cheating with her energy Velvet managed to get above the bat.

Then she dropped, not letting sound reflect from her for a short moment. After that, it didn’t matter what her prey noticed. She dropped nearly past the man-sized creature, her free hand grasping at the shoulder of one of its wings wrapped around it. That allowed her to yank the bat off balance while also giving her the angle to thrust her dagger towards its throat. Its tough flesh resisted, but she still sliced deeply.

Rapidly losing blood as it struggled to fly, it could barely attempt to fight her. At most, it was supposed to engage in close quarters combat with other aerial combatants- something with mobile limbs like a human that was able to reach it was difficult to fight back against. It flapped its wing to try to dislodge her, chomping about with its teeth, but its struggled proved futile as she slid her blade down its wing.

She landed lightly on the floor, but the bat barely maneuvered its feet towards the ground as it crashed. It was only able to stand awkwardly, its primary method of mobility severely damaged.

As it had not perished instantly, its loud cries weren’t simply to reveal her location for itself but also to draw other companions to aid it. Velvet knew that there were none terribly close by, so she was unconcerned as she approached it in melee. She sliced deep into its other wings before arriving at its back, stabbing through its ribcage into whatever vital organs were convenient. The creature quickly fell limp.

As the strongest beast in the local area, Velvet’s work was basically handled. Still, she would try to ambush some of the weaker creatures to make sure the safety would endure.

-----

Three Squeaks looked up into the sky. “You know, it’s easier to navigate when we have a flier with us.” He could pick out enemies from a long distance, but ultimately his senses had to navigate above and around the terrain in chunks instead of simply picking everything out all at once, or at least with a single visual sweep.

Small sounds from the void ants drew his attention down to his forearm, where Fearsome Mandibles was expressing discontent with the idea. Crossed Antennae, however, had her own opinion. “Wings seem good. Maybe I should grow wings.”

“Can you just do that?” Three Squeaks asked, looking at the two void ants.

“Usually only queens have wings,” Crossed Antennae explained. “And males. Either way, it’s only for a short time.”

“So you can’t, then,” Three Squeaks shrugged. “Too bad.”

“I didn’t say that. If I grow wings, surely the Great Queen will acknowledge my superiority.”

“Why doesn’t she have wings?” the meerkat asked.

Fearsome Mandibles actually answered that one. “She mentioned missing the opportunity to keep them.”

“Eat… good…” Meep said. “Body… grow… strong… wings.”

“I’m not quite sure if that’s how it works,” Three Squeaks said honestly.

“What’s this about wings?” Half Oink asked. She wasn’t at an angle to see the void ants, and wouldn’t understand their sign language regardless.

“Just discussing if the princesses can choose to grow them or not. It seems to be unclear,” Three Squeaks shrugged. He didn’t have such prominent shoulders as a human, but they worked well enough to move his arms dramatically.

“Found… something…” Meep appeared next to a plant, his movement surprisingly quick. Three Squeaks didn’t think it looked like anything special, but Meep took samples regardless.

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So far, they hadn’t gone far beyond coalition territory. For the most part, the locals had avoided them. With Spirit Building cultivators among them, they likely felt intimidating from a distance. And while they truly were dangerous, it was only to people who were going to cause trouble with them.

They continued on for a time before Three Squeaks noticed something. A number of trees in the area, fallen. No, that wasn’t right. Cut down. It was obvious there were regular patterns- and he could see the chips around the remaining trunks. As they continued on, the devastation became more prominent. It wasn’t just young saplings, but older trees as well- some two, three, or even five meerkat heights across. By human numbers, up to a meter and a half.

Not the very biggest trees in the forest, but the sheer quantity was astounding. He could see ruts in the ground from the trees having been dragged away.

That wasn’t the only odd thing. He also spotted a river- except it was hardly more than a stream in its current state. Yet from the bushes and other plants growing nearby, it should have been quite plentiful recently.

Soon enough the others noticed the trees as well. “Why… gone?” Meep asked.

Half Oink sniffed. “They must be building. No fires.”

“Big… coalition?” Meep asked.

“I’m not sure,” Three Squeaks admitted. “I can’t even sense any from here. Or at least, I don’t think so. There are some fellows living in trees, but they don’t have any remnants of all of this nearby,” he gestured vaguely all around them.

“We should go see them,” Half Oink said excitedly. “We haven’t seen many people yet.”

Fearsome Mandibles caught Three Squeaks’ attention. “This doesn’t look good. Too many stumps. Nothing growing, and the land trampled over.”

“No… fun… gi… on… stumps,” Meep agreed. “No… new… growth.”

“It does seem bad,” Three Squeaks admitted. “But maybe it makes sense for something.”

Either way, they were heading towards the group he had sensed. Three Squeaks got a better sense of their form as their group approached. Wide eyes, long tails. Paws with which they grasped the trees. And opposable thumbs!

Three Squeaks was jealous. It was extremely difficult to use a bow without opposable thumbs, his version took special effort to construct. Obviously these weren’t that close to humans, but they did have a major useful feature.

As they began to get close, loud cries came from the creatures. “Get back! We have heavy rocks!”

Well, that was kind of dangerous, but Three Squeaks would have been more afraid if they had spears or swords. Still. “We don’t mean any harm!” he called back towards him, amplifying his voice with natural energy. “We just want to ask about what is happening here!”

A pause. “You don’t work with them?”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Three Squeaks called out, “But we are from the Lower Plains Coalition, the border more than a day’s journey in the direction of the sunrise.”

“Approach closer. Slowly.”

“Very well,” Three Squeaks said. He figured it would be counterproductive to tell the individual talking that they were already within his range of attack. By over a kilometer, in fact. “Come on, then,” he said to those around him.

“Want us to sneak up and bite them?” Fearsome Mandibles asked.

“That shouldn’t be necessary,” he commented. “We’re here to talk, remember?”

Half Oink Squeaked in acknowledgement. Meep bent down and scooped up a mushroom. “New… variety!” he said with excitement. Then he hung his head. “Never… mind… young… blood… spewer.”

“Are bloodspewers useful?” Three Squeaks asked.

“If… you… need… enemy… to… vomit… blood.”

That was actually pretty obvious now that he thought about it. It wasn’t the name of a mushroom you’d want to eat. “How did you find this out?”

“... experience.”

It was weird that Meep was still alive. For various reasons.

“Stop there!” the voice was much closer now, though of course Three Squeaks had been keeping track of the speaker anyway- and the couple dozen others scattered about, the best of them barely in mid Body Tempering. “You are close enough.” A pause. “You don’t look like tree-chompers. But what is that weird thing around you?”

“This is a bow,” Three Squeaks said. “A weapon.”

“A… detached claw?” the creature tilted his head, large eyes looming in the treetops.

“Yes,” Three Squeaks confirmed. “It has longer reach.”

“Not as much as a good rock,” the lemur said. Three Squeaks didn’t bother to correct him. “Still, sensible. What is your name?”

“Three Squeaks.”

“I am Big Howl. You have seen the devastation of the trees, with your route.” Three Squeaks nodded in confirmation. “And the river, drained dry.”

“I did. Is there some connection?”

“Indeed,” Big Howl said as he moved among the branches of his tree. “From the very same thing. A tree chomper den beyond all sensible limits. It stretches across the horizon amid a field of death.”

“Why?” Three Squeaks asked.

“So that the tree chompers may grow stronger, and so that we will grow weaker. Why else?”

“That’s stupid. I’m sure good climbers like you would be useful. And your thumbs!” Three Squeaks raised his paws up high. “Very powerful.”

“What is a thumb?”

“The flexy-across bit of your hand/paw,” Three Squeaks said.

“Yes, good for grasping. But not able to chop down trees. Or defend them.”

“You just need better weapons,” Three Squeaks said. “Though maybe you could be friends?”

“I think not. The tree chompers drove us from our homes, and now the food sources of us lemurs are fading away.”

“Hmm, that’s certainly not very nice,” Three Squeaks admitted. “Perhaps we should go talk to them.”

“Hmph. Well, if you wish to risk your lives, you may do so. With your strength, perhaps you will survive.”

“Are they very strong?” Three Squeaks asked.

“Their teeth are long and sharp enough to fell trees in a matter of minutes. If you get within range for them to bite… you will regret it.”

They certainly didn’t sound very nice. But this was just one side of the story. Three Squeaks didn’t intend to get involved in local politics, but he did want to at least assess them. And as he’d heard from Anton… sometimes you just had to do something. He didn’t yet know the full picture, but it would take a very good excuse for things to be as they were. They hadn’t even planted new trees properly!